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Russia, Turkey and Iran, the sponsors of the peace talks between the Syrian government and rebels, have agreed to act as joint monitors for the war-torn country’s fragile ceasefire - in a promising step towards ending the violence.

The sides will "establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire and prevent any provocations," according to a final statement read by Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, following the talks in Astana.

The accord was signed by Moscow and Ankara - the two major powers brokering the negotiations - and Tehran, on behalf of the Syrian government and armed rebel groups, which have not officially endorsed it.

Credit:
EPA

Bashar Jaafari, the government’s representative, immediately hailed the talks a success but the opposition said it had major reservations.

The 14-member rebel delegation objected to the inclusion of Iran, which they said could not be a credible monitor as its proxies on the ground in Syria had repeatedly violated the ceasefire.

In particular they singled out Tehran-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hizbollah for carrying out attacks on the Wadi Barada valley outside Damascus, which has been fought over fiercely since the Dec 30 truce came into force.

Clashes continued in the area on Tuesday even after the communique was announced, casting doubt over whether the sponsors would be able to enforce the deal the truce.

“The rebels do not trust Russia. This will be a test to see how much they can control their allies (the regime and Iran),” Asaad Hanna, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, told the Telegraph. “They presented themselves as moderators so they must moderate them.”

Iran has a great stake in the war - providing the manpower and resources that have helped Bashar al-Assad’s government. It has bolstered the regime in order to maintain its influence and secure a supply route through the country for Hizbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

It sees the conflict in Syria as part of a broader Sunni-Shia struggle.

For this reason, the opposition does not believe Iran is serious about finding a political solution.

But such a deal seemed difficult to imagine a year ago, when the last peace talks in Geneva collapsed without agreement.

Talks between the two sides have seen greater success with the detente between Russia and Turkey and the sidelining of the United States. Negotiations between Moscow and Washington had been characterised by deep divisions and mistrust between the former Cold War foes

Steffan de Mistura, the UN”s envoy to Syria who has been present at the talks in Astana, had welcomed the idea of a trilateral commission to create accountability. “We didn’t have it in the past, that’s the reason why often we failed,” he said.

The three sponsors also agreed to joint efforts to combat Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and the need for more moderate rebels to distance themselves from Islamist groups.

But even as talks took place in the Kazakh capital, the situation of the ground was in flux.

Jaish Fateh al-Sham, a jihadist group which formerly had links with al-Qaeda, launched an attack on moderate rebels represented at the talks in Astana.

The attack by JFS targeted Free Syrian Army groups in northwestern Syria in Idlib, the rebellion's main territorial foothold after the opposition's defeat in Aleppo last month.

JFS surrounding the headquarters of the large rebel faction Jaish al-Mujahideen in Idlib province.

Jaish al-Mujahideen’s commander told Reuters the "extremely fierce" attack aimed to "eliminate the revolution and turn it black", a reference to the black flag flown by the jihadists in Syria.